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The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. For over three generations, the Academy has connected millions of people to great poetry through programs such as National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, the Academy’s popular website; American Poets, a biannual literary journal; and an annual series of poetry readings and special events. Since its founding, the Academy has awarded more money to poets than any other organization.

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Anselm Hollo was born on April 12, 1934 in Helsinki, Finland. He wrote more than thirty books, including the essay collection Caws & Causeries and Notes on the Possibilities and Attractions of Existence: New and Selected Poems 1965-2000, which received the San Francisco Poetry Center's Book Award for 2001.

His work has been widely anthologized and translated into Finnish, French, German, Swedish, and Hungarian. His translation of Pentii Saarikoski's Trilogy received the 2004 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets. He was a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, two grants from The Fund for Poetry, and the Government of Finland's Distinguished Foreign Translator's Award.

A native of Helsinki, Finland, he lived in the United States since 1967, teaching poetics and translation at colleges and universities. He was a Professor of Writing and Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, where he lived with his wife, visual artist Jane Dalrymple-Hollo.

i.m. Hannes Hollo, 1959-1999

Anselm Hollo

Fought the hungry ghosts here on Earth
"What is man?" asked the King
Alcuin’s reply: "A guest of space." And time yes time:
The past lies before us, the future comes up from behind
Walking on Primrose Hill or Isle of Wight beaches
Iowa City streets scrambling up snow-covered deer track
To Doc Holliday’s grave in Glenwood Springs
His helmet now shall make a hive for bees
He fought the hungry ghosts here on Earth
Strong & resourceful on his best days,
Patient kind and presente
Returning those with him to here & now
But just as we settle in with our Pepsi and popcorn
THE END rolls up too soon always too soon

Anselm Hollo

by this poet

for Jane
is to be one to the one
closest to you
who shares the air
& other elements
right there next to you
two bodies wrapped in darkness
among millions of other bodies
wrapped in darkness & smoke
war bloodshed & chaos

follow that airplane
of course I'm high this is
an emergency
§
giant Scots terrier
I thought I saw was known as
Taxicab Mountain
§
brown photo legend
"serene enjoyment" they suck
pipes bones crumbled back
§
night train whistles stars
over a nation under
mad temporal czars
§
round lumps of cells